Charlemagne: The Father of Europe

Three centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, most of Western Europe was divided into small kingdoms that were frequently at war with each other. They were threatened by the southern Umayyad caliphate, subject to the influence of the eastern Byzantine empire, and prone to interference from the papacy. Cultural and economic development languished, marred by a lack of strategic vision and the loss of centuries of classical knowledge. Then, in the 8th century, a new ruler emerged, a king who would bring about a cultural, political, and military renaissance. But who could be as ruthless toward his enemies as he was enlightened in the administration of his kingdom?

Today's protagonist was hailed as the

father

of modern Europe. He was celebrated in art, in literature... and even in the heavy metal concept albums sung by Christopher Lee. His name was Charles the Great, better known as Charlemagne. Rise to Power Much of Charlemagne's life is documented by a biographer, Einhard, who was his contemporary. And he also became his mathematics teacher when the King was already an adult. However, Einhard himself admits that little is known about his early life. We do know that the boy Charles, later known as Charlemagne, was probably born in Aachen, present-day Germany, in the year 742.

He was the eldest son of King Pepin of the Franks and had a brother named Carloman. The name "Charles" means "Free Man." "Carlomán" means "Free Man-Man". Pipino was known as “the short one,” to which we can add another nickname: “the one who had little imagination for names.” King Pepin was the first of a new dynasty, the Carolingians, who were named after his own

father

, Charles Martel. Charles Martel was not a king, but mayor of the palace of the kings of the Merovingian dynasty, which had ruled the region since the year 450. The Merovingians had been losing power and influence for years, becoming mere figureheads, while the true power was exercised the mayor, a role similar to that of the current prime minister (or Hand of the King, if you prefer).

Pepin was determined to replace the last of the Merovingians, Childeric III, as monarch and sole ruler. To do so, he needed legitimacy, and at that time the best provider of legitimacy was the Pope. He addressed a letter to Pope Zechariah in Rome asking: “Is it right for an impotent ruler to continue to bear the title of King?” Zachary agreed immediately. He needed a powerful defender, since the Church in Rome was under a double threat. Politically, the Lombard Kingdom in Italy was increasingly hostile towards the secular rule of the Pope. Ideologically, the Byzantine emperor wanted to impose a ban on depictions of Christ in all Western European churches, as this was considered idolatry.

Pepin was crowned king of the Franks in 751 and named his two sons as successors. He also defeated the Lombards and donated a large part of his land to Zachary. The Pope, in return, thanked Pepin for swindling him completely and graciously. Let me explain. Zechariah presented a document known as the Donation of Constantine, drawn up by the Roman emperor himself, which stated that all Christian monarchs voluntarily renounced their rule to the papacy and that the Pope then returned it to them. In other words: a king was such by the grace of the Pope, and the Pope had the ultimate authority over his right to reign.

Pepin accepted this stipulation. What he did not know, being illiterate and poorly educated, was that the document was a forgery, an instrument through which the papacy sought to control the Christian kingdoms. While his father ascended the throne and dealt with popes and Lombards, we can assume that Charles was busy training to become the warrior king he would later become. We are going to relate only two specific episodes from his youth: on two occasions, at the age of 6, and then at the age of 15, he swore allegiance to the Papacy and Christianity. Charles would use his sword to protect and expand Christianity, an oath that would shape many of his military decisions.

In 768 Pepin died and the Frankish kingdom was divided between his two sons. At the time, the Kingdom included most of present-day France, Belgium, and some West German territories. Charles and Carloman did not get along due to their radically different personalities. Charles always favored direct action, while his brother was less impulsive. The first major disagreement occurred when the province of Aquitaine (southwestern France) rebelled in 769. Carloman was against military intervention, while Charles could not wait to march against the rebels... which he did, quickly defeating them. and annexing a new province, Gascony. , by the way. The following year, 770, Charles was 28 years old and thought the time had come to marry.

Hers was a political choice: a Lombard princess, daughter of King Desiderius. The marriage was so unhappy and short-lived that we don't even know the girl's name! In fact, Carlos repudiated her that same year to marry a Swabian teenager, Hildegard. Desiderio was furious. He approached Carlomán and proposed an alliance to overthrow that Playboy Charles: a civil war was on the horizon. But, very conveniently, Carloman died in 771, apparently of natural causes. The Frankish kingdom was now united under the rule of Charles. The Warrior King During the prime of his 56-year reign, Charles was busy with military campaigns, crushing rebellions, securing borders and expanding his dominions.

According to historian C.W. Hollister, these campaigns did not initially emerge from a clear vision: “Charles led his armies in annual campaigns as a matter of course. He only gradually developed a notion of Christian mission and a program of systematic unification and expansion of the Christian West." First, we will take a look at his wars against the Saxons, which he fought between 772 and 804. Today, Saxony corresponds to a vast area of ​​northern Germany, bordering the Netherlands and Denmark. The Saxon people were divided into several different tribes and got along well with the Franks, who used their territory as a trade route with the Danes.

Things changed in 772 when a Saxon group raided and burned a church in the Frankish city of Deventer. It is unknown why, but this was the perfect excuse for Charles to invade. The Saxons still held pagan beliefs and worshiped the Norse pantheon of gods, something Charles did not tolerate. It has been speculated that the Deventer raid may have been a false flag attack orchestrated by the Franks. In retaliation, Charles led his army into Saxony and destroyed the sacred Irminsul tree, a representation of the mythical Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life in Norse mythology. This was only the first of eighteen invasions, all marked by much burning, looting, and massacre.

In 777, the Saxon tribes united behind the war chief Widukind, a name that translates as "Child of the Forest." His resistance was brave and hard-fought, but he had little chance of success against the Frankish armies. Widukind managed to convince King Siegfried of Denmark to allow Saxon refugees into his kingdom. Carlos's campaign became increasingly ruthless, perpetrating actions that would today land him on trial at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. In 782 he ordered the murder of 4,500 Saxon prisoners: it was the Verden massacre, an atrocity condemned even by his contemporaries. The Saxons continued to fight, preserving their autonomy and their religion.

But Widukind realized that this could not continue forever and allowed himself to be baptized in 785 as a gesture of peace. The rebel leader disappeared from historical records after this event, but his followers still did not give in. Charles continued his campaigns, even preventing refugees from escaping to Denmark in 798. After 32 years of war, Charles finally found a solution in 804: he ordered the mass deportation of more than 10,000 Saxons to Neustria (northwestern France) and at the same time he relocated a similar number of francs to Saxony. This forced displacement effectively ended the conflict and absorbed Saxony into Charles's dominions.

Now Charles's territories bordered Denmark and this did not please the Scandinavian kings. Siegfried of Denmark attacked Friesland (now the Netherlands) almost immediately. Fortunately for the Frisians, the Dane died shortly after and his successor sued for peace. While waging a protracted conflict against the Saxons, Charles was able to campaign in other parts of Europe. In 774, responding to a request from the Pope, he crossed the Alps and defeated the Lombards after besieging their capital, Pavia. The Lombard kingdom was annexed by Charles, who now became king of the Franks and Lombards. He then turned his attention to the Basques, who were threatening Gascony.

The Basques were (and are) a tough bunch and defeated Charles at the Battle of Roncesvald Pass in 778. But in the end they were defeated, as were the Saracens in northern Spain. The Franks and the Saracens, or Moors, continued to fight intermittently until 812. Charles was able to seize Corsica, Sardinia, and the Balearic Islands from the Moors. In northern Spain, the Saracens were put in check with the founding of the Spanish March, a fortified buffer zone that stretched from the Pyrenees to the Ebro River and Barcelona. During the 780s, Charles won further victories in Germany and Italy. He expanded his kingdom southward in 787, conquering part of southern Italy after the siege of Salerno.

He also extended eastwards, annexing Bavaria and Carinthia (present-day Austria) in 788. In 795, Charles attacked the powerful Avar Empire of Hungary. He had set his sights on them since the conquest of Lombardy, but had interrupted the campaign to confront the Saxons. Meanwhile, a civil war had weakened the Avars. Charles took advantage and in 796 had conquered his fortified capital, known as "The Ring", plundering his enormous treasury. After a revolt in 799, the Avars were definitively crushed in 803. He continued his expansion into Eastern Europe: the Northern Balkans and the lands up to the Oder and Danube rivers became dependent territories of the powerful Charlemagne.

The Carolingian War Machine All of these kingdoms and populations seemed to succumb incredibly easily to Charles's armies, except the Saxons. How did Charles accomplish this? What were his winning strategies? The Frankish army was organized around a core of heavy cavalry, an aristocratic warrior elite wearing chain mail and rounded helmets, armed with swords and spears. They were supported by infantry carrying polearms and shields and fighting in massed ranks. Unfortunately for Hollywood, Charlemagne's armies avoided major pitched battles whenever possible. Surprisingly, when they were drawn into battle, they performed poorly, like Roncevaux. The Franks established their superiority through well-prepared long-term campaigns, which harassed and wore down their opponents.

In fact, the value of Charles's cavalry did not lie in spectacular charges against enemy formations. Rather, Carlos took advantage of his speed of deployment, his ability to harass enemies, burn villages, pillage and pillage, before quickly moving on to another scenario. Charles was also a master of logistics: he normally planned his campaigns around Easter, the period when there was plenty of fodder available for horses, making the most of the army's greatest asset. His vassals were ordered to collect at least three months' worth of food before a campaign, to ensure sustainability. Unlike the custom of the time, the Frankish army did not limit itself to attacking enemy territories and then abandoning them, as a means of enriching themselves.

Charles ensured that new fortresses were built and garrisoned in the areas he invaded. Another asset at Charles' disposal was the large size of his army, which numbered 35,000 men. While relatively small numbers by the standards of the late classical period, this was a giant compared to the Franks' enemies. This allowed Charles to divide his army into two or more bodies and perform pincer movements to overcome his defenses. In short, Charlemagne's mastery of logistics and strategy meant that he could afford to avoid the battlefield, but if he went into battle and lost, he could still win the war.

What really made this military organization possible were the administrative reforms that Charles implemented during his reign. Carolingian Renaissance To administer such a large territory, Charles subdivided his kingdom into an inner core and an outer "regna." The core consisted of the provinces of Austrasia, Neustria and Burgundy, directly supervised by him, and a system of envoys, the missatica system. The outer "regna" was divided into counties, each governed by a trusted earl or earl. In turn, they presided over several minor vassals, each of whom were expected to train and equip themselves for cavalry warfare. The positions could also have seven 'scabini' each, legal experts who guaranteed unity in the administration of justice.

The border counties were grouped into Marches governed by Markgrafs or Marquises. They had the responsibility of maintaining the border fortifications and formingquick reaction forces in case of an invasion. Larger territories characterized by a distinctive ethnic group were organized as duchies. Charles also created two subkingdoms in Aquitaine and Italy, ruled by his sons Louis and Pepin respectively. All local rulers were summoned to attend an annual assembly, the Marchfield, in which they discussed political, judicial, military and religious matters. Charles's success as a ruler is due to his admiration for learning and education. His reign ushered in the era of the Carolingian Renaissance, characterized by a revival of scholarship, literature, art, and architecture.

Charlemagne's conquests brought him into contact with the cultures of Arab Spain, Anglo-Saxon England, and Lombard Italy, greatly increasing the institution of monastic schools and photocopying centers. Charlemagne took a serious interest in scholarship, promoted the liberal arts at court, ordered that his children and grandchildren receive a good education, and even studied himself. He studied grammar, rhetoric, logic, astronomy and arithmetic. Surprisingly, he did not know how to write, and even historians question his ability to read. What was not in question, however, was the fact that Charles had created the largest political entity in Western Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire in 476.

His reign had unified wildly different territories and ethnicities. They had been unified by force, but had been kept together by their administrative skills, which included the creation of a single currency (the pound) and even a single writing system: the "Carolingian minuscule", which established unified rules for the language, writing and writing. grammar to ensure effective communication between all corners of the Kingdom. A Kingdom that was about to formally become an Empire. Holy Roman Emperor In the year 800, Pope Leo III was the victim of a conspiracy led by Roman nobles. Accused of immorality and abuse of office, he was forced to flee.

León approached Carlos asking for help to recover the See of Pedro. Charles consulted with his advisor Alcuin, who recommended that he accept the Pope's request for help. In December of the same year, Carlos traveled to Rome to preside over León's trial. Under his forceful influence, Leo's name was cleared on the 23rd of the month. On Christmas Day, the pious Charles went to pray at the tomb of Saint Peter. When he left the crypt, he was the target of a strange ambush. Leo III simply stood in front of him and placed the Imperial Crown on Charles's head.

A Crown that had been headless in the West for centuries. With that simple gesture, Charlemagne had become Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. In practical terms, this changed nothing regarding his territorial domain. Apparently, Charlemagne, if given the option, would have rejected the Crown. But he still accepted the added prestige. As an intelligent man, he had understood that the coronation was a ruse concocted by Leo to regain some authority after his double humiliation: first, being overthrown by the Romans; then, begging Charles for help. Basically, Leo was saying: I'm still Pope enough to make this man Emperor. But Carlos was not stupid and he knew very well that the next step would be for Leo to withdraw Constantine's Donation, remember?

The forgery that had deceived his father Pepin. Charlemagne was not fooled and never accepted the political interference of the papacy in his government. The Private Life of an Emperor When it comes to the life of such an important public figure, it is easy to forget the private man behind the scepter. Fortunately, Charlemagne's biographer, Einhard, left an account of his private life. Charles was a tall and powerful man, standing 6'3", although he had a short neck and paunch. He regularly ate five meals a day, consisting mainly of grilled or roasted meat. He apparently did not like doctors, who They recommended that he switch to a lighter diet of stews.

I already mentioned his first two wives, the anonymous Lombard princess and Hildegard. This Swabian lady was always at his side, even during his campaigns, and gave him four sons and five daughters, before dying at just 26. Let's do some math. Although it is challenging, a healthy woman could give birth to a child every 12 months. Assuming she was constantly pregnant, they married when she was 15. However, if she had a break between pregnancies... well, that would put her first pregnancy at an even younger age. But hey, different times, different habits. Still, Charles could have kept his "scepter" in his. place from time to time.

Hildegard was buried in Metz Cathedral and her life almost immediately became the stuff of legends, in which she was renamed "Blanchefleur" or White Flower. Shortly after Hildegard's death, the Charles who would not cease married Fastrada, daughter of an Austrasian count. According to Einhard, she was "beautiful, ambitious and cruel," which happens to be my Facebook status. Fastrada died in 794 and Charlemagne married Liutgarda for the fourth time. Einhard described her as "sick, good and devoted," which happens to be my Facebook status when my mother is online. Liutgarda barely managed to become empress, since she died in the year 800.

After her, Charles did not remarry, but he did have four mistresses, with whom he fathered five more children. Unlike many monarchs before and after him, Charles had a very close bond with his children, spending a lot of time with them and taking a personal interest in their education. He ensured that they studied at a competent level the subjects of grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, geometry, astronomy and music. After reaching the appropriate age, sons were taught the truly manly thing expected of medieval princes: hunting! Horse riding! Weapons training! How about the daughters? wool yarn. There is nothing wrong with this, if it is your calling.

But if you're a daddy's girl, how frustrating can it be to watch your brothers riding horses through the woods chasing wild animals with their pikes, while you're stuck at home spinning wool? In fact, it is reported that Charles' daughters were all "daddy's girls" as he loved them dearly and adored them. But he never allowed them to marry, probably for political reasons. He already had to divide his territories among four children, he couldn't afford to do the same with his potential sons-in-law as well. Legacy In the final years of his life, from 801 to 810, Charles faced arguably his most powerful enemy, the Byzantine Empire.

Charlemagne and Emperor Nicephorus I fought a war by land and sea for control of Venice and the Dalmatian coast. The war progressed well for the Franks, and in 809 Nicephorus was distracted by a new war with the Bulgarians. The Byzantines began negotiations with the Franks, and a peace was agreed in which Charlemagne gave up most of the Dalmatian coast, in exchange for the Byzantine emperor recognizing him as Emperor of the West. In 813 Charlemagne appointed his son Louis the Pious as successor to the Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne died in 814, at the age of 72, of natural causes. Unfortunately, his death marked the beginning of the end of the Empire and the system of government he had created.

As historian Cantor noted, this was one of the cases where the death of a single personality can cause the surrounding society to revert to a less developed state. Charlemagne had created a solid infrastructure to ensure – at least in theory – the survival of the Empire. But he had sown the seeds of decay by his conduct in the Saxon wars. In addition to perpetrating a series of atrocities, Charles's conduct angered the Scandinavian kings and eliminated the Saxon buffer zone. The Danes awaited Charles's death and then unleashed their Viking raids on France, which Louis the Pious was unable to defend effectively.

The deterioration was further accelerated by the fact that the Empire was later divided among Louis's three sons, who had little interest in cooperating and preserving Charles's reforms. These three, and their descendants, were also under the influence and interference of the Papacy: unlike Charles, they had accepted the fraud that was the Donation of Constantine. In total, Carlos's material legacy did not last more than two generations. However, he planted the idea of ​​​​the possibility of restoring a strong and unified empire in Western Europe. He is also credited with being the initiator of the concept of a united Europe.

Furthermore, the kingdoms he created were the basis of today's nation-states and his cultural reforms slowly led Europeans out of the Middle Ages.